Machine for making slug-strips



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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A. EPPLER, J1. MACHINE FOR MAKING SLUG STRIPS. No. 431,339. Patented July 1, 1890:

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A. EPPLER, Jr. MACHINE FOR MAKING SLUG STRIPS.

No. 431,339. Patented July 1, 1890.

A/IKE/V 747/? I .lndrcwliz/aier MAGHINE FOR MAKING SLUG STRIPS.

Patented July 1, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARDREl/V EPPLER,'JR., OF NEWVTONVILLE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TOTHE CHAMPION NAILING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SLUG-STRIPS.

STPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,339, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed August 10, 1889. Serial No. 320,332. (No model.)

nails of similar cross-section, known as slugs, driven into boot and shoe soles by an ordinary boot and shoe nailing machine.

It is now the practice with many boot and shoe manufacturers to ornament the heels, and in some cases the soles, of boots and shoes with the said slugs; but as the slugs are much wider than ordinary nails it is impracticable to make them of iron or steel, on account of the difliculty of cutting said metals by the cutting appliances of nailing-machine's as at present organized.

It has been found that slug-wire made of zinc answers the purpose better than many,

other metals, zinc being easily cut and free from liability to rust and tarnish. Difficulty has been experienced, however, in obtaining zinc wire in suitable lengths to supply the machines, it being desirable to have a continuous coil of wire of such length that frequent stoppages for the renewal of the wire will not be required. At the present time there are no practicable means, so far as I am able to learn, for producing drawn or rolled zinc wire in the lengths required. To overcome this difficulty is the object of my invention, which consists in presenting the combination of a pair of positively-rotated circular cutters, a gage or guide behind the same, a carriage movable on fixed guides toward and from said cutters and gage and adapted to support a plate of metal and present the edge of the same to the cutters, a power-driven or positive feed for the carriage, means for engaging the carriage with and disengaging it from said positive feed, the arrangement being such that the carriage when engaged with the positive feed is positively and unyield- 5o ingly impelled toward the cutters, and when disengaged from the positive feed is permitted to recede from the cutters, and a yielding feed adapted to yieldingly force the carriage toward the cutters, whereby when the carriage is disengaged from the positive feed it is enabled by the yielding feed to advance and recede as the eccentricity of the periphery oi? the plate supported by the carriage may require.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a good and practicable machine adapted to carry out my invention. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of a zinc disk, showing the form of the first or initial end of the wire or ribbon into which the same is to be converted. Fig. 3 represents an end view of said machine. Fig. at represents a top View of one of the cutters, showing the disk support and gage under the same. Fig. 5 represents a section on line a: 00, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 representsasection 011 line y y, Fig. 7. Fig. 7 represents a top plan view of the machine. Figs. 8 and 9 represent views of the rolls to which the wire is subjected -to furnish its edges and sides.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings, a represents a supportingframe, to which are attached horizontal guide rods or ways I) b. 0 represents a carriage adapted to slide on said ways and provided with a raised plate 0', which is adapted to 1'0 tate freely about a vertical stud or pin (1, affixed to the carriage and projecting above the plate 0. Said plate serves as a support for the flat metal disk 6, Fig. 2, which is to be cut, and the stud serves as a bearing about which said plate may rotate, a hole e being formed in the center of the plate for thereception of said stud.

ff represent two rotary shears or cutters affixed to shafts g g, which are journaled in hearings. in the frame a and are positively rotated by power applied to said shafts in any suitable way. The cutting -peripheries of the cutters f f intersect each other ata point which is in the plane of the plate c when the latter rests on the carriage c, as shown by the dotted lines representing said plate in Fig. 5.

t represents an edge gage or stop, which is located in the rear of the intersecting edges of the cutters f f and is adapted to be adjusted at various distances from said intersecting edges by a screw j, engaged with a tapped socket in the supporting-frame and having one end journaled in an ear on a plate 70, which supports said gage, the latter being here shown as a roll adapted to rotate on a stud aflixed to said plate. The plate 70 is prevented from rotating by studs m m, projecting into sockets in the frame a. The distance between the gage i and the cuttingedges of the cutters f f determines the width of the strip to be cut, the edge of the disk resting against said gage during the cutting operation.

I prefer to provide the plate 70 with two cars or flanges 2 3, Fig. 1, one to bear 011 the under and the other on the upper surface of the disk 6, and prevent upward or downward movement of the disk in the vicinity of the cutters.

The carriage is provided with an arm n, which passes through a guide in the frame a, and has a lever 0 pivoted to it near one end. On said lever near its swinging end is a halfnut 12, which is adapted to engage a screwthread (1 on the shaft g, that carries the upper cutter f.

vWVhen the zinc disk is placed upon the carriage, its periphery bears against the cutters ff. Said periphery is at this point so nearly in line with the direction of movement of the cutters that a positive feeding movement of the plate toward the cutters is required to enable the cutters to cut through the periphery of the disk. This positive feeding'is effected by engaging the half-nut p on the lever 0 with the screw-thread g on the shaft g, the pitch of said thread being such that the carriage is drawn positively toward the cutters by the rotation of the shaft 9, the disk e being at the same time rotated. The cutters are thus caused to enter the disk and commence the formation of the ribbon orslugstrip r, the same beginning at a point and being gradually widened, as shown in Fig. 2, until the periphery of the disk reaches the gage the wire being then of the desired width- The half-nut p is then disengaged and a yielding pressure is imparted to the carriage, causing the latter to hold the disk against the gage z, and the rotation of the disk is continued by a pulling force exerted on the ribbon or wire 1' by a power-driven drum or reel 8, to which the initial end of the wire is affixed. The operation is continued until the center of the disk reaches the cutters, the entire disk being thus converted into a strip. The yielding pressureimparted to the carriage enables the carriage to alternately advance and recede, as required by the eccentricity of the disk, the latter being deprived of its true circular shape by the operation of forming the initial end of the ribbon, (illustrated in Fig. 2,) or that the carriage cannot move uniformly forward, but is required to halt or recede slightly once in each rotation of the disk. Said yielding pressure may be imparted by any suitable means, those here shown being a weight If and a cord to, connecting said weight with the carriage c, said cord running over a pulley o, journaled in cars on the frame a.

The reel or drum 5, on which the slug-strip is wound, is here shown as driven by a belt w from the cutter-shaft g. A spooling-guide for the strip is shown, consisting of a bar a,

having guides b 1), between which the strip 7" passes on its way to the reel. Said bar is reciprocated slowly by a worm c on the shaft of the reel s, a gear cl meshing with said worm, an eccentric-pin c on said gear, and an arm g on the bar at, having a slot f receiving said pin.

It is obvious that the method above set forth may be practiced by variously-organized machines, and is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of mechanism here shown.

Figs. 8 and 9 show grooved rollsjj',,be tween which the wire strip r may be passed to remove the cutter-marks from its edges, and rolls k 70, one or both of which may be milled to mill one or both. sides of the strip, and thus increase the holding power of the slugs made from said strip.

I claim 1. The combination of a pair of positively rotated circular cutters, a gage or guide behind the same, a carriage movable on fixed guides toward and from said cutters and gage and adapted to support a plate of metal and present the edge of the same to the cutters, a power-driven or positive feed for the carriage, means for engaging the carriage with and disengaging it from said positive feed, the arrangement being such that the carriage when engaged with the positive feed is positively and unyieldingly impelled toward the cutters and when disengaged from the positive feed is permitted to recede from the cutters, and a yielding feed adapted to yieldingly force the carriage toward the cutters, whereby when the carriage is disenaged from the positive feed it is enabled by the yield-. ing feed to advance and recede as the eccentricity of the periphery of the plate supported by the carriage may require, as set forth.

2. The combination of a pair of rotary cutters, power-driven shafts supporting the'same, a gage or guide behind the cutters, a movable carriage adapted to support a disk of metal and present the periphery of the same to the cutters and gage, a lever connected with said two subscribing witnesses, this 13th day of carriage and provided withahaif-nutadapted J nly, A. D. 1889. to engage a thread on one of said shafts, and means for imparting a yielding pressure to 5 said carriage, as set forth. WVitnesses:

In testimony whereof I have signed my 0.13. BROWN, name to this specification, in the presence of ARTHUR W. OROssLEY.

ANDREYV EPPLER, JR. 

